NJOA Endorses Chris Christie for Governor…

It’s Simply the Right Thing to Do!


The trustees of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance are excited to announce that we are endorsing Mr. Chris Christie for Governor of New Jersey. Mr. Christie has pledged his commitment to our state’s conservation efforts and environmental stewardship. In return, it is imperative that the outdoor community provide their full support to Mr. Christie.

During the past two years the outdoor community has made great strides in advancing legislation in New Jersey. In doing so we have reached out to both sides of the political aisle and the majority of democrats and republicans have responded. Of course, it is always important to build relationships with any legislator interested in conservation, regardless of political affiliation.

However, anglers, hunters, trappers, foresters and ocean ecologists are presented with a greater challenge than moving legislation – the agencies charged with environmental stewardship are being gutted, financially raided and the science needed to properly manage our natural resources is being influenced by political agendas. In fact, we are witnessing the use of animal rights initiatives as the basis for establishing policy in the name of natural resource management. These initiatives are an abdication of our government’s role to ensure environmental stewardship and public safety. This must be immediately reversed.

The trustees of the NJOA strongly believe that initiating change at the top will best address the greater challenges that face all of us. There is risk, but it is the type of risk that we must be willing to accept if we are to return natural resource management to the capable hands of those committed to the precepts of conservation.

The NJOA endorsement of Mr. Christie is an act of leadership by the outdoor community; a message that states we are unwavering in our commitment to conservation, and that we are ready to rebuild the framework of a healthy ecosystem. To this end, Mr. Christie has personally pledged his commitment to work together with the outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen of New Jersey.

The future you want for your outdoor enjoyment depends on your involvement. Please join us and “get out the vote” for Chris Christie.

It is simply the right thing to do.

Thank you,
Anthony P. Mauro, Sr
Chairman

JOIN NJOA http://www.njoutdooralliance.org/support/njoa.html

A report card on the Corzine Administration is included for your review.

Mission Statement

The mission of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is to serve as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to environmental stewardship. We will champion the intrinsic value of natural resource conservation - including fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders and policy makers. We will support legislation, and those sponsoring legislation, that provides lasting ecological and social enrichment through sustainable use of the earth’s resources.


Governor Corzine’s Conservation Report Card


Overview:

The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance has reviewed the record of the Corzine Administration with respect to conservation and environmental stewardship compared to our mission statement.

Mr. Anthony Mauro, Chairman, and Mr. Ed Markowski, Vice President, NJOA, recently met with Governor Corzine and his Chief Counsel to discuss outdoor related issues. Mr. Mauro and Mr. Markowski agree that it would not be accurate for outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen to conclude that Governor Corzine is opposed to fishing or hunting. He has attended the Governor’s fishing tournament each year of his term and signed Sunday Bow Hunting into law. Governor Corzine has also been a champion for open space.

However, the NJOA is issue oriented and focused on measuring results. To this end, the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance finds the following systemic shortfalls with the current Administration’s conservation policy and procedures.

Wildlife Management:

Bears

The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife is mandated to protect and manage all wildlife in the state. In fulfillment of this responsibility, the agency is charged with managing the growing black bear population not only to safeguard the public but also for the benefit of the black bear population in relation to available habitat and ecosystem balance.

The Corzine Administration replaced commonly accepted, science based bear management methodology with a policy that attempts to manage the behavior of people. The use of educational materials and secured trash, typically utilized to augment the use of a bear population management through hunting (to minimize bear/human conflicts) has instead been used to the exclusion of hunting.

As of August 2009, black bear vs. human incidents in New Jersey shows the number of serious encounters continues to rise and includes two incidents in which bears approached or chased children. Overall, there have been 2,153 calls about bears this year with several months of reporting still remaining.

A total of 1,306 bear-related incidents were reported to the DEP in 2006, compared to 1,407 in 2007 and 2,151 in 2008. The effect of growing bear populations, the nature of the animal to be very territorial with large home ranges, the localization of bear populations in the Northwest corner of the state and bear habituation appears to be a cause of increased bear/human conflicts.

Additionally, at the same time that bear activity was escalating the Corzine administration was preventing population control it reduced funding for Black Bear management from $850,000 in 2006 to $573,000 in the current year’s budget.


Councils:

The Fish and Game Council and Marine Fisheries Council play a vital role in the management of New Jersey’s fish and wildlife resources. The councils help to create and finalize each year's hunting and fishing regulations and enable the professional and scientific management of these resources. Members of the councils are appointed by the Governor.

The Corzine Administration has neglected to adequately maintain the integrity of the composition of the two councils. Vacant seats have been left unfilled and replacements are needed for those with expired terms. The eleven member Marine Fisheries Council presently has eight members serving in expired terms and one unfilled seat. The Fish and Game Council has only eight of its eleven seats filled and five of those members are serving in expired terms.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is responsible for management of fisheries in federal waters which occur predominantly off the mid-Atlantic coast. The Corzine Administration circumvented historical precedent by precluding the rightful involvement of recreational and commercial fishermen in the nomination process. The result was the replacement of a seated recreational representative member with a delegate supported by environmental activist groups. The selection appears to be a part of a federal trend to exclude certain stakeholders (recreational and commercial fishermen) from fishery management. This is clearly in opposition to the intent of the Magnuson/Stevens Act.

There is also a report from Sierra Club stating that Governor Corzine made a commitment to reform the Fish and Game Council. It should be noted that no changes have occurred as of the date of this report.


Division Fish and Wildlife:

Funding for the Division of Fish and Wildlife has for over 50 years been supported by the revenues from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. In 2005 these dedicated funds were supplemented by a general appropriation of $4.2 million because of significant increased public responsibilities. Under the Corzine administration this appropriation has been steadily decreased to $1.6 million this year. Although deer hunters contributed an additional $1 million to the dedicated fund in 2007 due to changes in deer permit fees this was offset by an equal reduction in the appropriation.

The status of the Fish and Wildlife staff is of even greater concern to the NJOA. Since 2006 the staff has lost 50 professional managers and conservation officers (25%) while the remainder of DEP has experienced only a 10% reduction and the upper administrative staff has actually increased. Also, Fish and Wildlife could loose an additional 25% of its staff due to retirements. This will create a large deficit in experience and institutional knowledge.

Marine Fisheries Administration

The Marine Fisheries Administration, responsible for managing the resources of a multi-million dollar industry with over 10,000 jobs, provides recreational opportunities for over one million anglers that contribute in excess of $100 million in state tax revenues – conversely, it is one of the most poorly funded and staffed on the Atlantic coast. This year the marine fisheries budget was reduced to an all time low of $1.8 million.

Not only has the Corzine administration failed to adequately fund and staff marine fisheries management, in 2009 the Secretary of the Treasure authorized the withdrawal of funds from four dedicated shellfish management accounts totaling $850,365. These dedicated accounts were specifically established by previously passed legislation. There is a history of overlooking the importance of adequately funding the state’s marine fisheries program for recreational anglers and future generations.

Legislation:

The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance has been attempting to advance legislation that has not proceeded to the Governor’s desk. This legislation includes:

Hooked On Fishing, Not on Drugs:

HOF-NOD is an award-winning, nationally recognized program developed by the nonprofit Future Fisherman Foundation (the educational arm of the American Sportfishing Association) that focuses on preventing drug use by school age children through an interdisciplinary program that includes sport fishing, aquatic resource education, and life skill development. One of the program’s primary purposes, besides increasing a youth’s angling skills, is to enhance the development of self-esteem, civic values, family and community relationships, and environmental awareness, all of which are life skills that hopefully will divert children from using drugs. The Division of Fish and Wildlife launched a pilot HOF-NOD program in Ocean County in 2000, which was continued with increasing success and participation through 2002.

Traps Off the Reef:
This bill would prohibit the use of inappropriate fishing gear, such as dredges, trawls and traps, on artificial reef sites within state waters. More specifically, the bill would prohibit, within the marine waters of the state, any person from using, leaving unattended, setting, or deploying fishing gear, other than rod-and-reel, hand line, spear, or recreational gig, within 100 feet of an artificial reef site created under the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Artificial Reef Program. The purpose is to reduce gear conflicts and the hazards associated with commercial fishing gear being used near artificial reefs. The DEP and Division of Fish and Wildlife have written to the NJOA to state that the reefs should be restricted to hook-and-line and spear only.

Bow Perimeter Bill:

The reason for the bill is to address the culling of deer in suburban areas. A 150’ perimeter will enhance deer management by providing access to currently unavailable deer habitat in areas unsuitable for gun hunting. The bill shifts some of the burdens for culling to productive use of downward pointing, short-range bow and arrow while bringing the perimeter to 150 feet from 450 feet in specified areas.

Forest Stewardship Bill:
This bill will direct the DEP to establish a forest stewardship program for the owners of forest land who develop conservation and forest sustainability plans that meet national forest stewardship guidelines, subject to approval by the Department. The program would offer financial incentives, including cost-sharing for stewardship activities listed under DEP-approved plans if funding is available, and property tax breaks similar to the current farmland assessment program established by the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964. As amended, the bill would also provide that revenue generated from the Regional Greenhouse.

NOTE: Sunday Bow Hunting: This bill was signed into law by Governor Corzine in 2009.


Forestry:
The NJOA is currently working on forest initiatives at this time. However, our relatively recent entry into forestry conservation makes it unmerited to provide comment at this time.